Arts & Entertainment
Writing Demo: How to Write a Logline
Lesson time 20:22 min
Get an exclusive look into how Matt and Ross collaborate as they conceive a logline for a fake "Stranger Things" spin-off.
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Topics include: Assignment Write Up Your Concepts
Teach Developing an Original TV Series
Matt and Ross Duffer—the "Stranger Things" masterminds—teach you how they plotted the series from beginning to end, and how you can bring your own idea to life.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] - So now we've got our laptops out. We're going to show you how to take that big idea and write it into a digestible short paragraph that you can send to your friends. You can send to your agent, whatever you want. In order to do this, we're going to use a made up idea. We talked about doing a fake Dustin Steve spinoff. This is not a real thing, Netflix. This is a fake-- this is a fake idea. It's super undercooked. It's underdeveloped. Dustin and Steve, of course, are two of the characters from "Stranger Things" who you may know. They work really great as kind of buddies. They're always often paired together, so they're fun to write. So we thought, hey, if we're gonna write a spin off involving "Stranger Things" characters, why not write it involving Steve and Dustin? So-- - Here we go. - I guess we'll do it. - All right. - And we-- I guess we've cheated a little bit. We don't have a ton of time, so we've kind of pre come up with a little bit-- a few ideas as it relates to Steve and Dustin, the deepfake Steve and Dustin spinoff. [MUSIC PLAYING] ROSS DUFFER: So we do everything in-- MATT DUFFER: In Google Docs. ROSS DUFFER: For us, writing together, it's a great way for us to collaborate and just be both writing at the same time. Again, this is gonna completely depend on your process. So-- - When I'd normally be doing this, I would probably have headphones on. I would be listening to music, but it feels, like, pretty antisocial and uncinematic. So I'm gonna-- I'm not gonna have headphones on while I'm doing this. - So what we were thinking about with Steve and Dustin is when we were talking about what that spinoff could be, one thing that we haven't really had time to explore in the show is where is Dustin's dad, and that was sort of the question that we're talking about a couple of days ago. They go, well, that could be interesting as a starting off point to explore in terms of putting-- getting them on an adventure. So, you know, our initial thought is, okay, what if-- and this is about as far as it's been developed-- what if Dustin-- Dustin, after the events of season three, say, what if he's feeling emotional about what happened and he wants to go and visit his dad before high school starts. So visit his dad who doesn't live in Hawkins, so-- and, of course, Steve has just lost his job because the mall and Scoops Ahoy burned down, and so he convinces Steve to go with them. That's sort of the starting off point for the idea. - And Dustin doesn't have-- doesn't have a car. - He doesn't have a car, right, right. - Who else is he gonna go to? Well, he's gonna go to Steve, so, you know, it works. - And I think what we also like about the dad in terms of this made up idea is that the dad can give us sort of an emotional core to this. I think it's something emotional, Dustin dealing with his issues with his dad, and, of course, Steve ...
About the Instructor
Before they turned our world upside down with "Stranger Things," Matt and Ross Duffer honed their scare tactics on Wayward Pines and their debut thriller, Hidden. Now, the acclaimed showrunners reveal the dark science of creating a monster hit. Craft gripping story arcs, conjure unforgettable characters—like Eleven or Jim Hopper—and turn your raw idea into a pitch for the next big thing to cross over from the other side.
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The Duffer Brothers
Matt and Ross Duffer—the "Stranger Things" masterminds—teach you how they plotted the series from beginning to end, and how you can bring your own idea to life.
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